Disciplined Trump on strong path
I’m not worried, says Clinton
DONALD Trump and Hillary Clinton yesterday opened a final twomonth sprint to the November 8 election with the Republican presidential nominee suddenly looking stronger as he and his Democratic rival took their bitter fight to Ohio.
Trump and Clinton made overtures to a news media that each candidate sees as often hostile to them, talking to reporters on their private planes.
Trump rallied supporters at a county fair in Canfield, and Clinton visited a brewery in Cleveland.
Ohio is considered one of four swing states – those that are not clearly in the Democratic or Republican camp – that could prove decisive in the Electoral College vote that will ultimately determine the winner. The other swing states are Florida, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The latest Reuters-Ipsos poll showed Trump with 40% support versus 39% for Clinton.
Other polls showed Clinton’s lead had shrunk.
“I think we’ve had a great month,” Trump said.
Clinton remained in a strong position to win the White House race, but Trump and his team cited his growing strength in opinion polls nationally and in several states where the election is likely to be decided to argue that his message is breaking through to voters.
Clinton, who emerged into the public eye after days of raising money from wealthy donors behind closed doors, said she always knew the race would be close.
“We’re just going as hard and fast as we possibly can to be organised for turning out the vote, because we’ve always thought this was going to be hard, and that’s why, you know, I’m not worried, I’m just working,” she said.
Trump, shaking his fist triumphantly, plunged into a crowd at the Mahoning County Fair where supporters had built a replica of the wall that the Republican nominee has pledged to build along the US-Mexico border.
“This has been an unbelievable reception,” Trump said.
Inviting reporters on to his plane for the first time since accepting the Republican presidential nomination, Trump said his focus going forward would be on how to create jobs for middle-class Americans.
He has spent most of the past two weeks trying to clarify his position on illegal immigration, first flirting with a softening, then reinforcing his hardline approach, and then, on his plane, saying undocumented people might ultim- ately get on a path to a legal status once border enforcement steps are taken. “I’m all about the jobs now,” he said.
He also pledged to participate in all three televised presidential debates. His first faceoff with Clinton is at Hofstra University in New York state on September 26.
Clinton made her stop at a brewery in Cleveland before heading to a nearby Labour Day parade and rally, where she tested a new jab at her opponent: “Friends don’t let friends vote for Trump.”
Speaking to reporters on her new campaign plane, she took credit for Trump’s overture to the news media. Clinton has been criticised by Republicans and the news media for months for failing to hold a news conference.
Trump’s rebound from a series of self-inflicted wounds follows the hiring of a new campaign management team, and the Republican nominee is showing more discipline on the stump. – Reuters